While the headline today reads, Afghan Christian Convert May Be Freed, the statement I have highlighted in bold says it all ...
An Afghan man possibly facing execution for converting from Islam to Christianity is expected "to be released in the coming days," a source with detailed knowledge of the case said Friday.
Word of Abdul Rahman's release comes after days of international pressure and the day before the Afghan Cabinet was scheduled to discuss the case of the 41-year-old father of two. On Thursday, top Afghan clerics urged Muslims to kill Rahman if the government freed him. [...]
"Rejecting Islam is insulting God. We will not allow God to be humiliated. This man must die," cleric Abdul Raoulf told The Associated Press. Raoulf has long been considered a moderate and was often at odds with the Taliban, which jailed him three times before the hard-line group's ouster in 2001. (Read about clerics joining Raoulf in calling for Rahman's death)
Prayers are seriously needed at this time.
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More: Persecution Blog is calling for prayers and polite letters of protest to be written to the Afghan ambassador to the United States. You can find the address at the bottom of this post.
Both frightening and tragic.
Hey Angel, have you seen today's press release on this issue?
There's something that scares me about this decision though. While I'm glad that the man will be going free, I think the reasons for it make it clear we can't celebrate this as a complete victory. After all, this article makes two things clear:
1. Rahman is not being released due to freedom of religion. He's being released due to "bad evidence." This means that if prosecutors can "shore up" their evidence, this man could be facing execution again down the road.
2. Because of the rationale behind this ruling, there's still no precedent for freedom of religion for Afghani non-Muslims.
Yeah, I have seen it and have been thinking about what I want to say about it. First, they said they thought he was mentally ill. Now they are saying bad evidence. I figure that they are just using an excuse, any excuse, to set him free due to all the pressure they are now under. But, regardless, like you said, it does not change the fact that there is no freedom of religion there. And, as I noted, if the clerics are wanting to kill him and are calling for his death if he is released ... it does not matter one whit. Either way, the man dies and any and all Christians in the country are at risk.